Pages

Arlene has a list on her blog of authors who she has read almost every book by. I thought this was a fun idea. So here is my list, which will not be as long as hers (you may consider this an unofficial Tag!):

I wanted to say Madeline L'Engle, but she has written a WHOLE lot more books than I thought. I also wanted to say L.M. Montgomery, but when I looked her up just now on Amazon I saw there are a bunch more books she's written that I haven't heard of. This is all a little depressing to my list up there. Emily Bronte is cheating I know, because she only had one book published, but I'm countin' it!Oh darn. I was just looking up some of the other authors to see if I really have read most of their books and I'm not doing so good! But I'm counting J.R.R. Tolkien because all the books his son published posthumously based on his notes don't weigh in. But. . . oh man, I haven't even read everything by Douglas Adams! This list is garbage, GARBAGE! The problem is that dead authors don't stay dead. People keep publishing stuff they worked on, or edited, or notes they wrote on their coffee cups in a spontaneous moment of inspiration.I guess the only thing I can say is that I read everything by these authors that was available at the public library when I discovered them. So there.Stupid Amazon.

AE says she is a sucker for a good sales pitch. And I would have to say the same. I'm a sucker for an infomercial. I fall for almost every one I've ever seen, but of course I am much, much too sensible to buy right then, so I write the item down on a sticky note and stick it on my desk. Or if I can't find a sticky note I will write it on the back of a receipt, or on a napkin, or on the bottom of my shoe, whatever I might have handy. Luckily I am smart enough not to watch many infomercials, because I am all too aware of my weakness. The result is, that I still remember every one I have seen and fallen for. P90X. The shark Vacuum. The LaPress. Ah the La Press. I could chop all my vegetables with just the pull of a lever. Sigh. Anyhoo, it is the opposite with a direct sales presentation. I am too busy being annoyed at the sales man to buy anything. I'm not even paying attention; instead I am deciding between kicking him in the shins or pointing over his shoulder and saying, "What in the world can that be?", so that I can make a run for it. It doesn't really matter where I am, or what they are selling, just the fact they are all up in my business wanting me to buy something really fills me with much indignant emotion!

When I just go straight to the finished product like this, you really don't feel the weight of the work that was involved. We had to rip everything out and start from scratch. Found the cabinets in the want ads for $100 dollars; Painted them and put new hardware on them. And we tiled the countertop for $1.00/sq. foot. Wow, we sound pretty awesome if I leave it at that! So I think I will.
(May 2004 - August 2004)

I have two small problems. Yep, only two. Problem One: The constant need to clean my house which demands my time; Problem Two: the desire to employ myself usefully while I listen to books on tape. Well, I'm no dummy, and I finally realized that I can listen to books WHILE I clean the house. (Someone with a more simple mind than myself might never have come to this discovery.) Not only does this give me a chance to listen to my books, but it also makes the cleaning pass so much more pleasantly. I am able to kill two birds with one stone. And Richard is always happy when I am able to kill two birds with one stone, because, he says, "There is nothin' I like more than killin' birds, and saving rocks!"

I have a friend who doesn't like the word breast. She never talks about emotions swelling in her breast, she doesn't wear double breasted jackets, and she hates nuthatches. She also won't say chicken breast. She won't say it, but she will eat them, so instead she uses the term "Chicken Chest". This seems to me to have the opposite of the intended effect, and I always find myself thinking "What are we talking about now?", and giggling behind my hand. To make matters worse, Richard decided that he was fed up with all the euphemisms, and just started calling them "Chicken Boobs". He likes to spring this on me unawares, while we are grocery shopping or at ward barbecues. He always surprises a laugh out of me, but I cover it up smartly by coughing and then whacking him in the arm.

Today I heard about a heated debate between two acquaintances of mine because of something written on one of their blogs, and that makes me feel real sad. However, maybe it was nice for the offended to be able to air their views to the offendee. Maybe a good argument really hits the spot for some people when they are upset. Unfortunately, that usually isn't an option and we have little recourse when we are offended by something we read on the internet. I enjoy slamming the door when I'm angry, but sometimes it's a lot of work to get up from my desk to go over and slam the door. Plus, I always get distracted on the way and start to pick up socks, and then I remember this sock hop I went to once with some really neato streamers but they really only called it a sock hop because they didn't want us to wear our shoes on the new gymnasium floor, and then I can't remember why I got up in the first place. So here is some advice for those of you who read something online that makes you mad.

1) You can post a rant on your blog.2) Throw things at your monitor.3) Shut down the internet browser with a very emphatic click of the mouse.4) If you are lucky enough to be using a lap top, you can close it really hard (don't try it with a desktop PC. It really doesn't work very well).5) While doing any of the above it often helps release more steam if you shout some expletive, like: "That Really Burns My Butter!" or, "I am filled with much indignant emotion!" or even something simple like, "POOP!"

If none of the above work out for you, and you don't have the offending party to give a talking to, you can always try calling one of those phone psychics. It might be a 900 number, but they are really good listeners, and you can't put a price on that.

November 05, 2007

Well, the numbers are in! We have tallied up the votes for the Poll Poll and it is time to reveal the exciting results. (If you are thinking: "Hey! I just looked, and there are still like a bunch of days left to vote" too bad! It was taken before a committee and I decided to cut it.)

You will be relieved and perhaps intrigued to learn that not ONE person thinks that polls are a waste of time. Isn't that great?! It was a close race, but at the last minute some courageous voter dove in and broke the tie. The results are these:

It's great tosee that if any of you stumble across a poll you don't need, you all know just where to stick it. The support for this survey was overwhelming. Thank you so much to those who contributed time and loot to make it a success.

November 05, 2007

I love "Pushing Daisies". Chuck and the Pie Maker are so cute, I find myself watching it all curled up in a ball with a ridiculous grin on my face. Turns out I am a sappy romantic after all. Who knew?

That's not a curtain on the right wall. That's the wallpaper. Yeah. It was that awesome. All the pipes were completely rusted, so everything had to be torn out. When we pulled up the linoleum (is that what it was? I don't really remember anymore, and I'm sure not going to get up off the couch to go look it up in the album) we found a bath mat nailed to the floor underneath it. The floor boards were rotted - that old lady must have had some pretty wild baths in there! - and when we tore them up we found the joists were rotted too. So for a while the bathroom was just a hole in the ground.

Well, we did all the stuff you do to a bathroom: ran plumbing,electricity, put in a floor, etc. (January 2004 - March 2004). It was a very exciting day when we got the shower in. It was our first tiling job, and as such looks ok.

The bathroom is unfinished at this time, because as soon as it was functional we decided it was time to move on to more urgent projects